Not The Same Thing
on
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Posted by
Rajesh J Advani
Labels:
Thoughts
Yes, yes, I'm alive. Against all expectations to the contrary. I guess you'll need to pray harder.
And we break our silence (No, it's just me. The plural is just for the heck of it) to disagree with a man who is probably the most popular Indian blogger on the planet. As the Tamil saying goes, I think I've got horns on my head. (Yes, I've been in Chennai too long. No, I don't know the Tamil saying itself. I only know what it translates to. Don't ask me to explain. I'm blogging after two full months. I'm supposed to be incoherent.)
Amit Varma's got a post linking to the results of a new scientific study. While I agree with the intent of the post in general, I completely disagree with the title of the post.
Being gay, is not like being left-handed. Which hand you use to write or eat with, isn't dependent on biology. It's more a matter of luck. And, of course, on whether your mother made you hold the pencil in your right hand when you were learning to write.
A left-handed person can learn to write with his/her right hand, if the necessity arises. Right handed people can teach themselves to do things with their left hand. All it takes is practice.
But no amount of practice can turn a gay man (or woman) straight. Or vice-versa.
In fact, I think the biggest problem that people have with homosexuality is the fact that they believe it is like being left-handed. That you can change it if you try hard enough. That it is something that can be fixed if you catch it early enough. That not letting your kids know that there is such a thing as homosexuality, will keep them straight.
Being gay is more like being black. Or brown. Or white. Or yellow. Or red. Except that it's not hereditary. (How could it be?)
You can't change it any more than you can change the colour of your skin.
And we break our silence (No, it's just me. The plural is just for the heck of it) to disagree with a man who is probably the most popular Indian blogger on the planet. As the Tamil saying goes, I think I've got horns on my head. (Yes, I've been in Chennai too long. No, I don't know the Tamil saying itself. I only know what it translates to. Don't ask me to explain. I'm blogging after two full months. I'm supposed to be incoherent.)
Amit Varma's got a post linking to the results of a new scientific study. While I agree with the intent of the post in general, I completely disagree with the title of the post.
Being gay, is not like being left-handed. Which hand you use to write or eat with, isn't dependent on biology. It's more a matter of luck. And, of course, on whether your mother made you hold the pencil in your right hand when you were learning to write.
A left-handed person can learn to write with his/her right hand, if the necessity arises. Right handed people can teach themselves to do things with their left hand. All it takes is practice.
But no amount of practice can turn a gay man (or woman) straight. Or vice-versa.
In fact, I think the biggest problem that people have with homosexuality is the fact that they believe it is like being left-handed. That you can change it if you try hard enough. That it is something that can be fixed if you catch it early enough. That not letting your kids know that there is such a thing as homosexuality, will keep them straight.
Being gay is more like being black. Or brown. Or white. Or yellow. Or red. Except that it's not hereditary. (How could it be?)
You can't change it any more than you can change the colour of your skin.
Posts
6 comments:
Hey! Welcome back! And we promise to pray harder next time. :-P And you know, I use "we" to refer to myself a lot. When people ask, I say, "We, as in royalty!" :-D Yes, a lot of eye-rolling happens.
And as for the rest of your post, I totally agree with you.
Rajesh, good point. My analogy was a bit loose there. Will link to your post as an update.
Thanks for making this analogy, although I think Amit was on the right track as well.
The issues the "religious" "right" has with homosexuality, the promiscuity, the 'flaunting' they worry so much about ... most of such things would no longer be issues if understanding and tolerance would abound, and fear and hatred did not drive people underground or to desperate measures.
May the discrimination stop soon.
Still waiting for regular blogging...has been so many days...
-Me
hey,
good to see you back online.
GR
I'm really not very sure why there is homophobia across the world. Like Amit said in his post, nothing between two consenting adults ought to be illegal. I'd have thought that if anybody is homophobic, it ought to be women! Because aren't they being threatened a lil bit here? But funnily enough, most of my women friends seem to be like gay men more than the guys do.
I've had a woman friend wishing that I were gay. And if I could have changed, I would have ;-) bcoz that'd hv straightened out a rather peculiar situation.
Btw, anybdy wonder abt what'd happen if genetic engg were allowed to make designer babies? Would some parents choose gay babies?
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